by Jerry Connors, secretary, USHWA

Harrisburg, PA — It has come to the attention of the national officers of the United States Harness Writers Association that recently there have been some disparaging remarks made about inductees in harness racing’s Hall of Fame, and how the voting process for various equine honors is conducted. It is our goal here to address those remarks.

At a national meeting on medication conducted before the U.S. Senate, a very prominent Thoroughbred owner, one who had often “reached out” across the breeds, suggested that some of the challenges facing harness racing today were shared by members of its Hall of Fame. He later said his comment “was a joke,” but did not back off from his position. He also stated that “our brethren in Standardbred racing have suffered to a much greater extent from cheating.”

USHWA has been entrusted by the sport with the honor of being the primary electors of the annual Dan Patch horse awards, including divisional champions up to Harness Horse of the Year, and with the electing of worthy individuals into the sport’s pantheon, the Living Hall of Fame. We take great pride in our duties and obligations towards these special honors.

The election process for Living Hall of Famers conducted by USHWA is meticulous, detailed, and integrity-driven, and no one can doubt the merits of the Hall of Famers in shaping the development of harness racing. Whether or not one sport or another’s Hall of Famers may have accumulated blemishes along the way, as humans do, is water under the bridge and frankly destructive to both sports at a time that equine racing in general is coming under scrutiny from politicians and mainstream media as the sports attempt to survive and thrive.

We are saddened that these comments have been made; however, we do not feel that questioning our Hall of Fame inductees, without the benefit of a complete understanding of the process, is appropriate.

Recently, a track employee of national note (and a member of USHWA), along with a respected trainer/driver, both commented publicly that they thought certain horses had been “robbed” of honors in recent years’ voting. It should be noted that a thick packet of material is sent to every selector in the equine voting, detailing top contenders’ overall record, stakes victories (and showing head-to-head matchups), national season’s records, and other pertinent information, and then the electors cast their votes.

In the two contests referred to, the balloting was 88-27 against the commentator’s horse, and 121-35 against the trainer’s horse. While everybody is of course entitled to debate opinions, especially people dependent on logic and knowledge, an objective case can be put forward for the horses that won, too, and the voters spoke.

An old story says that if horse racing were ever to form a firing squad, it would form in a circle, and then point their guns inward. A healthy discussion, with exchanges of facts, is quite different from public displays of unsupported rancor, and we hope that all involved will take a lesson from this past weekend and redouble their efforts towards contributing their positive energy to sustain the magic and majestic qualities of horse racing.

Sincerely,

The National Officers
U.S. Harness Writers Association
(Steve Wolf, President; Chris Tully, 1st VP; Tim Bojarski, 2nd VP; Jason Settlemoir, Board Chairman; Judy Davis-Wilson, Treasurer; Alan Prince, Executive Treasurer; Bill Brown, Executive Secretary, Jerry Connors, Secretary.)